FIG. 1 depicts a conventional head stack assembly (HSA) 10. The conventional HSA 10 includes an actuator assembly 12 including an actuator body 14 and an actuator arm 16, a head gimbal assembly (HGA) 18 including head(s) 20, a flex cable 22, circuitry 24, metal stiffener 26, and a conventional mechanism 30 for coupling the flex cable 22 with the actuator body 14. The conventional HSA 10 is part of a disk drive including disk(s) (not shown) and at least one base (not shown) to which the disk(s) and conventional HSA 10 are coupled. The actuator assembly 12 moves, for example rotating toward or away from the disk, in response to a servo control system (not shown). The head(s) 20 extend from the HGA 18 in proximity to disk(s) and are used in writing to or reading from the disk(s).
The conventional mechanism 30 used to mount the flex cable 22 to the actuator body 14 may be a clip 30. Typically, the flex cable 22 fits within slots in the clip 30. The clip 30 holding the flex cable 22 clips onto a mounting surface, such as a metal stiffener 26. The metal stiffener 26 is thus used to mount the conventional mechanism clip 30 and the flex cable 22 to the actuator body 14. The flex cable 22 electrically couples the head (s) 20 to the circuitry 24. The flex cable 22 can be considered to include a first portion 22A and a second portion 22B separated by a bend.
Although the conventional HSA 10 functions, the use of the flex cable 22 has drawbacks. FIG. 2 depicts a close-up of the conventional HSA 10 near the clip 30. The clip 30 holds the flex cable 22, such that portions 22A and 22B of the flex cable 22 form an angle, θ, of less than or equal to zero degrees. The angle θ is less than zero degrees in FIG. 1, but might be zero if the portion 22B is parallel to the portion 22A. Consequently, the exit angle, α, for the flex cable 22 is relatively large. As a result, there is a possibility that the flex cable 22 will interfere with the remainder of the conventional HSA 10. For example, when the head(s) 20 are at the outside diameter of the disk(s), the flex cable 22 may interfere with the conventional actuator assembly 12. Similarly, the flex cable 22 may interfere with the disk(s) when the head(s) 20 are at inside diameter of the disk(s). Interference with the flex cable 22 and the disk(s) or the actuator assembly 12 adversely affects performance of the disk drive. Furthermore, because of the size of the exit angle, α, a larger driving torque from the servo control system is required to position the head(s) 20 at the inside diameter of the disk(s). A voice coil motor (not shown) within the servo control system provides the torque used in rotating the actuator assembly 12. The roll-off of the voice coil motor of the servo control system is typically significant near the inside diameter of the disk(s). Consequently, the conventional HSA 10 may be more difficult to position near the inside diameter of the disk(s).
Accordingly, what is needed is an improved system and method for mounting the flex cable in the head stack assembly.